Never Give Up Hope
by SeeMeWrite
Summary: Newly formed Team 7 has a new member a young girl named Akira. Who is she and why does she look so much like Sasuke? Can she save Konoha or will she destroy it? "No matter how bad it seems never give up hope." Rating may change in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1 New Team Mate

**Hi guys sorry no updates in forever. I kind of got writers block not on the story line but to actually write. So I'm back and redoing the first to chapters (spelling errors etc) and go on! Noticed Ive adjusted the ages a bit more just so rest of the story can move a little faster to the action.**

This is my first attempt at a story. I've had this one on my mind for a long time and have to write it. Please give me constructive criticism so I can know whether to go on with this story. This story starts after the formation of Team 7 and after the Land of Waves. I'm making everyone just slightly older in this one. So instead of being 12 when they start they are 15. Please leave a review!

**Never Give Up Hope**

The day was slightly damp with a hint of storm clouds above. Still Kakashi-Sensei had called a training session. The session went as usual besides the regular training Naruto complained and fought with Sasuke, Sakura continually looked over to Sasuke while also hitting Naruto every now and again, while Kakashi read his orange book. The day progressed and as the storm grew closer, the Team began to pester Kakashi into letting them off.

"Kakashi-Sensei, Can't we stop it's going to rain!" complained Naruto. Kakashi kept his eyes to his book. Sakura tried to win points with Sasuke and her teacher.

"Naruto, a ninja has to be able to fight in all conditions." She quoted looking over to Sasuke for approval, to her disappointment Sasuke had his eyes closed and was leaning on a tree, arms folded ignoring the two of them. Kakashi still kept to his book.

"But I'll get wet!" Naruto shouted. Sasuke gave grunt.

"Dobe we were just in the Land of Waves." Sakura brightened up Sasuke was listening again, here was her chance, but before she could do or say anything Naruto planted himself in Sasuke's face.

"WELL, I STILL DON'T LIKE TO GET WET. YOU'RE JUST A TEME!" Naruto's ravings continued until Sasuke replied with a simple "Hn" Naruto couldn't take it anymore and took a swing at him. As always this led to an all out battle between the two with Sakura once again forgotten. She looked up to her Sensei.

"Kakashi-sensei shouldn't be teaching us something." Kakashi seemed to ignore her and simply turned a page. With a sigh Sakura turned back to the boys hoping they would calm down.

"Hey who's that?" she thought. In the distance a small figure was coming towards them. Sakura kept her guard up, the boys were too into their fight to notice and Kakashi was engrossed in his book. Honestly how had they survived their last mission? As the figure neared she recognized one of the Hokage's men. He was running very fast towards them and into the battle zone. Sakura ran forward to warn him to keep back since whenever Sasuke and Naruto fought anyone in the way was just pulled in. However just as the two were coming at each other, Kakashi appeared between them book in pocket and his hands out stopping both boys in the face sending them both back a bit and on the ground. He gave his famous eye crinkle at the visitor.

"Lord Hokage wants to see you. All of you." The man announced bowing then running back.

"Awesome! We're probably going to get another mission!" Naruto shouted while giving fist pumps in the air still lying on the ground.

"Hn" was Sasuke's only reply, picking himself up. He wouldn't admit it but he also wanted to get a new mission. "You guys go along." Kakashi said. "I'll meet you there." Taking his book out again. "Oh no you don't." Replied all his students as they dragged him with them to the Hokage's office.

The Hokage looked at his papers on his desk as he thought over this recent situation. He took a glance over to the chair over to the side of the room. The occupant of said chair was sitting with their body turned to the window. He knew this would be hard and he was worried a bit about Naruto. He did have a tendency to be loud and wasn't very good about keeping secrets. But Team 7 would be the best for this case. The chair gave a creak as the occupant arranged them self once again in it. They were getting restless. No doubt they had cause. He just hoped he could protect them.

There was a huge commotion from outside in the hallway, the sound of shouts, curses and feet moving. The Hokage looked over to the person in his office. They had rose slightly from their chair one hand poised over the weapon bag on their leg. The Hokage cleared his throat, the other quickly turned over to the man. The Hokage was relived when he saw them visibly work to calm themselves. Just as expected his door was flung open as an orange blur stopped himself before colliding with the desk.

"Hokage do we have a new mission?" The Hokage waited till Kakashi and the rest of Team 7 entered closing the door.

"No, this is not a mission briefing." he said after. Naruto practically fell on the floor. "Awe come on!" he whined. A low "Dobe." was heard and Naruto glared at Sasuke who gave a slight smirk. Before Naruto could open his mouth. Kakashi walked forward.

"Yes Hokage." he said visible eye light but serious.

"You are to have an addition to your team." he announced. Everyone looked shocked.

"But don't we have a full team already?" Sakura asked. The Hokage nodded "Yes but this is a exception. Kakashi don't give me that look." Kakashi was not happy. He admitted that his team had exceptional opportunities but they were still a handful. Now he needed to take another. Suddenly he felt another presence in the room. He felt the Hokage slowly releasing his chakra revealing another person's in the room. So that's why he hadn't noticed. The others turned as well looking over to the corner of the room where a lone figure sat in a chair. The person stood and walked forward revealing a very beautiful young girl hands at her sides looking toward the Hokage.

The Hokage gave the others time to evaluate her. She was slightly above average height. She had to be around their age but her face held a bit of age, no, it held maturity in it. She was very beautiful. Her dark hair was tied into a tight braid that hung half way down her back. Her eyes were very dark so much so you almost couldn't see her pupils. Her mouth was set and her defined features all were kept tight, focused and not revealing anything. She wore black pants that were fitting to her legs, grey shorts that came to about mid-thigh, a black quarter sleeve shirt with holes on her shoulders and grey halter top over top that came to mid-stomach and ninja sandals "This is Akira." The Hokage announced.

**Ok Thanks by the way to ones that reviewed in the previous version. Please review guys it really helps! I'm so excited to start this again. See in the next chapter!**


	2. Chapter 2 Welcome Akira

**Hi New chapter 2 redone. Hang in there guys this build up is need so you get the back story for when the story takes off.**

There was an awkward silence until Naruto shouted."Wow!"

Akira gave him a strange look and moved back a bit. The Hokage turned to her to giving her another nod of reassurance.

"Akira will be your new student Kakashi."

"Hokage with all due respect I do not have the time to train someone to genin level." Kakashi said. The Hokage gave a small knowing smile to him.

"She has been assessed and her abilities are well above genin she will be an excellent asset to your team." then turning to Akira "Please wait outside for a moment." The girl turned without question and left. The Hokage's face was very grave. "As her team you will notice she is very quiet and keeps to herself. As to her being here I can only give you so much information. Unless she chooses to take any of you into her confidence you will mind your selves and be respectful of her." The last part of the Hokage's speech had an air of menace to anyone who disobeyed. Naruto of course couldn't keep quiet.

"Well who is she? Why all the mystery?" Naruto's barrage of questions continued as Sasuke stayed quiet but had all his thoughts on this new girl.

"Had she some sort of past like his? There was something about this girl." he thought. Kakashi gave Naruto a light hit on the head to silence him.

"What of her family?" he asked. All of Team 7 had been very suspicious of this and waited quietly for the Hokage's answer.

"She's had a very hard past. One that she would like to put behind her. As to her family," he looked over to Sasuke at this point "she has none. Her family is dead and she has been on the move for some time. This is as much as I can tell you right now. In any case there is no negotiations she is now on your team and that is final." The Hokage gave them a nod giving them the only option to leave. As they exited the room Naruto seemed to have brighten up.

"Well we don't get a mission but now we can make a new friend." He sped down the hall to where the girl was sitting. She turned to see him coming and her eyes widened. Kakashi, Sakura and Sasuke all noticed how she seemed to steel herself to stay still. Kakashi worried about this. If she had to physically brace herself when someone ran at her how would she deal when she was attacked? Naruto managed to stop before colliding with her.

"Hi, My name's Naruto Uzumaki." By now the others had caught up to him. "This is the wonderful Sakura-Chan, and the Teme," Sasuke gave a growl. "Also known as Sasuke Uchiha," Akira looked to Sakura "She is very pretty." she thought, she turned to Sasuke. "A Uchiha and I'm on his team how crazy is that. I'd only heard a little bit about what happened to them."

"And this," Naruto continued "Is Kakashi-sensei. Watch out he a bit of lazy pervert." Akira's eyes widened suddenly and she looked quite uncomfortable at Kakashi. She seemed a bit confused when all Kakashi did was put a hand up and pinched the bridge of his nose as if he had a headache.

"Naruto!" Sakura yelled at him. "Dobe." Sasuke said and gave Naruto a hit on the head. Naruto seemed to realize what he said wrong and began to babble saying that it was just a joke although Kakashi did read this questionable orange book and…

"Sorry," Sakura apologized for him. "He's just an idiot." She smiled kindly at the girl. "I hope we can be good friends." She said as she gave a small bow and giggle. Sakura was very happy to have another girl on their squad. "That is as long as she didn't want Sasuke. But it would be nice to have a friend to work with" she thought. Akira's face relaxed and a small smile was placed on her face. She stood and gave a small bow back.

"I'd like that." she replied. "Kakashi-sensei I am honored and look forward to being your student." Kakashi rubbed the back of his head with his hand.

"Well," he said basking in the compliment "I appreciate that. You guys could learn a lot from the respect Akira shows." he said.

"It's not like its going to last long." Naruto grumbled. Kakashi ignored it and continued. "Since we trained earlier this morning. You should get to know more about Konoha. Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto will escort you around. We will meet for training tomorrow." Naruto began yelling again.

"Hey, you can't get away with missing practice that way!" But Kakashi was already gone in a poof of smoke.

"Come on we'll show you around." Sakura said smiling to Akira. They began to make their way out when Naruto skidded to a stop in front of Akira. "Please forgive me for what I said before. I still want to be friends." he put is hands together in front of him begging. Akira tilted her head over before a smile came over her face. Her eyes seemed to brighten. "Yes Naruto Uzumaki. I forgive you." she said giving a small laugh. Naruto grinned this huge smile and then fist pumped in the air. "Alright lets go!"

"Dobe." "Teme, just cause you don't want to be anything but an ice cube!" Another round began. Sakura just smiled at Akira

"Don't worry you get used to it." Akira smiled. They were quite strange and it would take some getting used to but what they didn't know was this was the so relaxing compared to what she had had before.

The day followed on as the members of Team 7 led Akira around Konoha, explaining the history, from Sakura, the best places to eat, from Naruto. "So where are you staying now?" Sakura asked after a long day of sightseeing. Akira had been rather quiet through most of it apart from a few questions and nods. It was not that she wasn't interested, as Sasuke sometimes portrayed. It was quite clear she was fascinated with what they showed her. She looked at everything very intensely, studying everything.

"In those apartment buildings over there." Naruto jumped in front of her grabbing her hands and he jumped up and down shouting.

"Awesome that's where I live!"

"You might want to lock your door." Sasuke recommended. Always cursing that he had sliding screen doors at his apartment, giving Naruto the opportunity to open or run through them. Naruto unable to let one comment slide began to yell at Sasuke.

"Do you guys always fight?" Akira asked a slight smirk on her face

"No!" both boys chorused. Sakura piped in.

"No sometimes they eat so they can only glare at each other." Both boys were astounded at Sakura she had just teased Sasuke outright. Apparently she was warming up to this new girl. The girls had a slight giggle on the boy's behalf.

"If you want you can stay at my house at least for your first night." Sakura offered. Akira gave a small smile. "Thank you but I actually wouldn't mind being alone. I'm quite used to it." she replied. "At least I mean being alone where no one will help me. It might be very nice to be alone completely for once." she thought.

"Well if you need anything you can come to me!" Naruto offered giving her a toothy grin and thumbs up. Akira gave a very warm smile and thanked him. "Well at least she isn't not cold like the Teme, even if she is quiet." Naruto thought. He liked this girl very much. She reminded him of someone.

"Now we have got to go to Ramen!" Naruto shouted grabbing hold of Akira and dragging her in the direction of his favorite Ramen stand. Both Sakura and Sasuke groaned giving soft complaints about again having Ramen. Naruto ignored them. "Come on Akira. You can meet the rest of the Gang." Akira couldn't help it she let out a laugh at the group. This was good. She couldn't remember smiling this much. Truly smiling. Something about this place was warming her heart.

She met the rest of the gang that night. The boys had all made one comment or look, showing their approval of how she looked and girls had been very kind and inviting. It was nice to be around girls that were her age. She had spent so much time around men she felt that she would never have some girlfriends to talk to. Perhaps this was the turning point for that too. There were some interesting people there. One boy in green had saluted her kissed her hand and apologized for not being able to court her or woo her as his heart was already given to the lovely cherry blossom. Another girl with light blonde hair had begun to talk endlessly about how she could doll Akira up and grabbed hold of her arm almost instantly. Akira had to calm herself not to throw her off. She didn't know how to explain to people that she didn't like to be touched without telling them too much. However Naruto may not have stopped anyway. His constant grabbing of her hand to lead her places that day had been very good. She knew it would be awhile before all the memories and pain would fade, but she would do it slowly. It had been one of the chief concerns of the Hokage. He had wanted her to be able to work herself back into society so that normal things would no longer bother her. She could live a normal life. Well as much as a ninja could. One guy she met she had heard very little from except a few "Troublesome." Was this boy really a ninja he seemed to find sitting a chore? There was a boy and girl that looked very similar, she found out they were cousins although they were complete opposites. Although the girl was warm she was very nervous and shy while the boy was very serious and formal. Another boy seemed to very be very enthusiastic like Naruto except he was slightly, very slightly calmer and was accompanied by a small white dog. Akira had been invited to pet him but had declined. It was too soon. And then there was one guy she did not like, well she didn't know if she liked him he had glasses and seemed covered completely and he said little and when she found out he used bugs that lived in him in battle Akira felt a little uncomfortable to be to close to him yet. The whole gang welcomed her openly and even Sasuke made an effort not to be totally anti-social even with Sakura and Ino competing for his attention.

Soon though she was alone. Having said bye to everyone. She had entered her new building with Naruto. After a word of encouragement and a goodnight as well as a warning not to be late for training the next morning, Akira entered her new home. It was a small one-room apartment with a small kitchenette table and chair TV in the corner and bed in another corner. None the furniture was hers. In fact the only thing she owned in the room was the small backpack that was by the bed. The Hokage had been very generous in setting her up with a home furnished including small plants and other small knick-knacks you'd find in any house. Now that she was alone she felt her breath catching in her throat. Every noise seemed to spark a jump in her. Perhaps she should have stayed at Sakura's. No if she had a nightmare and she usually did. How would she explain it? The Hokage had been so understanding. What would she do without him? How could she ever thank him? Thoughts began to toss and turn in her head. Memories that made her feel sick and on edge. Today had been a milestone in being with people. She hoped the days would continue like this. She wanted to be normal so badly to be left alone by the horrors of her past. She'd taken a risk coming to this village. If they find out they may not let me stay. She'd have nowhere to go. And they would find her. She wouldn't go back not to him. She shut her eyes at the thought. Sitting on the bed she curled up into a ball trying to hide from the nightmares that plagued her. Hopefully this would be the end. She wanted to live.

**Well that's another chapter. Please let me know what you think. Akira is being kinda quiet now but she will definitely become more vocal as events occur. Thank you for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3 A New Bell Test

**Hi guys chapter 3 is up. Let me know what you think.**

Early the next morning Naruto woke up with a bright smile on his face. Today was one more day closer to his goal of becoming Hokage. And to do that he would need to train! He was extremely excited with their new teammate. She was mysterious and odd. He was always curious and so not outright asking her what happened to her was driving him crazy. He got dressed grabbed anything that looked edible in his fridge and ran out the door. Akira's apartment was a few doors down from his. In his habit he knocked by using his fist to barge open the door. Most times Naruto ended up being hit by Sakura or Sasuke but for once he entered without a hit. Akira was on the window ledge looking out over Konoha. Naruto after hearing what the Hokage said thought perhaps she would jump.

"Akira!" he called. The girl turned to him and he was relieved to see her face was not agitated in fact it looked quite calm. He smiled at her a went out to the ledge himself. Akira had been looking out in the sun rise. It looked so beautiful as the sun lit up the village slowly. It had been a long time that she could appreciate this. Her world had been dark before.

"So are you ready for today?" Naruto asked smile still all over his face. Akira gave a small nod. "Well come on then." he said as he jumped down to the ground. Akira followed landing graceful and without a sound. "Come on we got a hurry or we'll be late." he said grabbing her hand once more and dragging her through the streets. Akira had to laugh within herself, maybe this is why the Hokage put her with this team. In so many ways Naruto was forcing her to break out of old fears and habits. They came to a bridge over a river. Waiting for them was Sakura and Sasuke. As Naruto ran up to Sakura Akira walked slowly up the bridge looking around a puzzled expression on her face.

"He's not here yet." Came a monotoned reply. Akira turned to Sasuke. She looked up at the sun. They were here on time weren't they. "He's late." Sasuke said. On hearing this Naruto began to complain and explain to Akira.

"Kakashi-sensei is always late. He doesn't really train us either. Mostly he just reads his strange book. He wont let us see it cause its adult." he said acting as if had discovered some governmental secret.

"Anyway," Sakura said. "We normally spar against each other or go on small missions. Since Kakashi-sensei can be too lazy." As Naruto and Sakura continued on about the usual routine and how Kakashi-sensei could be annoying or lazy, Akira suddenly looked up into one of the bridges tall frames. Sasuke watched her movement. Her eyes seemed to flash as she then looked behind Sakura and Naruto. "You wouldn't be complaining about your training now would you. Cause if you don't like sparing with each other perhaps we could join Rock Lee and Guy." Akira smiled as everyone including Sasuke gave a groan. She had heard about Guy but had yet to meet any of the other teachers yet. After Sasuke groaned at the thought of being anywhere near Guy or Lee he thought back to how Akira had most likely followed the movement of their sensei and frowned how had she noticed that so easily.

Naruto tried to help the situation of Kakashi catching them talking about him.

"Hi Sensei, what are we doing today?" Kakashi looked at them "Today, were going to focus on learning about our new comrade, Akira." He gave her a creased eye smile like he said she was going to get ice cream not be the target in todays training challenge.

"Sensei?" Akira asked although he noticed how her entire body language showed she was ready for anything. Kakashi gave another creased eye smile. "This afternoon you guys have a mission to weed out Mr. Ling's garden," The three original Team 7 members winced and groan again. Mr. Ling had a huge piece of land and very small house. He loved his garden but was notorious for letting it get wild. Naruto insisted that last time they had weeded for him, a plant root tried to attack him. "However," Kakashi continued. "Only some of you will have to go on it. Think of this like the bell test but this time...," he suddenly appeared behind Akira. Before she could turn around he had tied a yellow scarf loosely around her waist. "This is your target. Bring back one piece of the scarf and you get out of today's mission." Turing to Akira he stated. "You can let the scarf be as loose or close to you as you wish. Note that closer will mean more danger they are allowed to aim to hit but not kill. You also must stay within this area I'll be watching and will let you know if you are going out of boundary." He stepped back "This will be interesting," he thought. We'll see what her approach is, defensive or offensive." Akira looked to her opponents. She could only guess their fighting styles to what she knew of their personality. She was new to this kind of training knowing it could not be anything similar to what she had been forced to do before but before she knew it Kakashi shouted, "GO!"

Kakashi watched as in an instant a large puff of dust blew up as all his students dove to hide themselves. However he was surprised to see two figures still standing when the dust cleared. Akira stood faceing Naruto but she kept scanning the area around her. Naruto as to his nature went in head on. Kakashi felt a sweat drop form. Surely she couldn't be like Naruto, right?

"Get ready Akira. Here I come. Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto shouted. Immediately two more Narutos appeared. Kunai wielding they all jumped into an attack. Akira took a defensive stance she began to block and parry the three Narutos keeping them at arms length. Just as she flung one Naruto away from her she became aware of dark blue dashing by her. She looked to see Sasuke had cut a part of the scarf off and was holding it smirk present on his face.

"Too easy." he said. Kakashi gave a frown either she wasn't trying or because of her past she was just unable to keep up with them. It was one thing to be able to do certain moves and another to perform them when in battle. Movement caught his eye and saw that Sasuke had a frown on his face.

"What the…?" Sasuke was holding his hand out with the piece of scarf as if it was the grossest thing he had ever seen. Sasuke didn't understand his hand felt wet and slimy when holding the piece of cloth. Suddenly there was a puff of smoke and he was holding not the scarf but actually a handful of slimy worms. He dropped them immediately shaking his hand of the gross feeling. Looking over to Akira she had a slight smile on her face. Sure enough near Akira was a hole where she must have got the worms while fighting with Naruto, who at this moment was killing himself laughing at Sasuke's expense.

"Substitution Justu of an object interesting." thought Kakashi hiding his own smirk behind his mask. He had not seen her make the signs then again he hadn't used his Sharingan yet. "I think I might have to watch her more closely."

"Alright. Time to get serious!" shouted Naruto wanting to show up Sasuke. Suddenly Narutos littered the field she couldn't even see Sasuke and with the chakra all around her she wouldn't be able to find Sakura or Sasuke. Her eyes widened, as she looked about the field all she saw was orange. She'd never seen this many clones in her life. She looked back to where she assumed the original Naruto was. A chorus of "Believe It!" was heard. Akira frowned and got ready to handle all these plus 2. As the attacks kept coming Naruto gave a victory cry as he came from up above, Akira too distracted and too busy keeping his clones at bay to do much. He came down to her ready to knock her down and take the scarf. He made impact, throwing Akira down to the ground he was about to make another yell of victory when. POOF

"What HEY!" he yelled. Akira had disappeared in a puff of smoke. "No fair!" Naruto cried out in frustration.

"Dobe, you use that all the time." Sasuke said flying past him into the forest to look for the real Akira's chakra signature. Naruto wanted to give a reply but he was standing in a crowd of clones.

"Stupid Teme." Was all he said as he gave a grunt and ran after Sasuke, his clones dissipating as he went. Meanwhile Kakashi having seen Akira was merely a clone had taken off before the boys, looking for her to see what else she would do.

"Well she definitely takes the defense. She is skilled I'll admit but so far I've seen her use just replication or clone jutsu. While she has used them effectively is this all she can rely on." Kakashi thought as he left from tree branch to tree branch. He could already hear Naruto and Sasuke arguing as they searched. In his own search he found Sakura she seemed to be trying to figure out which way Akira had gone. Suddenly he picked up movement ahead. He moved slightly to the right of the person ahead. Sure enough it was Akira. She had stopped leaping in the trees and had settled on a large branch. She was looking at Sakura and kept her eyes scanning the trees around her. Kakashi, being the Jounin that he was, was able to stay out of her line of sight but was still able to watch her. She stayed still for a long time and Kakashi thought that he should maybe shake things up a bit and force her closer to her opponents when Akira's head jerked up looking out into the trees.

"Fireball Jutsu!" A huge ball of fire came crashing at her. Akira leapt off the branch but instinctly turned herself away from the flames blocking Naruto who had come from behind. Akira and Naruto descended but just before landing Akira gave him a kick sending him flying and landing very ungracefully into the forest brush. As Akira prepared for Sasuke's next attack she just missed as she felt a tug at the scarf. Spinning around she just missed a kunai coming at her. Sakura had used all the noise the boys had made in order to sneak up to Akira. As Sakura pulled one end of the scarf, she also brought down her kunai as Akira deflected it with her own she ended up cutting the scarf herself, leaving Sakura to take it and disappear into the trees. Akira didn't have time to run after her as Sasuke came barreling down on her. They fought close combat as she had with Naruto except Sasuke had his Sharingan on. He was therefore much quicker. As she tried to at least block his way to the scarf and herself, they ended up being forced back onto the field. Akira was having a hard time with the Sharingan, she had heard of it but didn't know how developed Sasuke's was. She was also growing tired after fighting a three to one battle. Finally Sasuke jumped back holding a real piece of the scarf in hand. He smirked and Akira did something that shocked him. She stuck her tongue out at him. It was childish thought Sasuke but it was also for some reason made him laugh. She definitely was a good opponent whether she grew stronger and remained good would have to be seen. "If she is strong she could help me train to take down Itachi." he thought.

Naruto at that moment burst out of the trees intent on getting his own piece of scarf. Akira prepared to fight when Kakashi appeared in front.

"Ok that all for now." he stated.

"What!" Naruto cried. "But I didn't get a piece of the scarf!"

Sasuke came up smirking at Naruto's failure as Sakura also came out of her hiding place back to the group. Akira was panting as was everyone else. Naruto kept complaining. Kakashi held up his hands.

"Sorry Naruto but we have to meet Mr. Ling for our mission soon. I don't think you can get the scarf in time." Kakashi was trying to quiet Naruto down before he somehow got to Sasuke, which he always did and they started fighting. Expecting Naruto to be sulking he instead got a grin on his face. He put his hands together making hand signs. Akira pulled back slightly not sure what he was doing.

"Sexy Technique Justsu." POOF There in front of Akira standing in a cloud of smoke was a naked female Naruto. Akira's eyes widened and her jaw dropped. Had he just done what she thought? In a flash female Naruto reached over and took the remaining piece of scarf off Akira. Changing back he gave a thumb up. "Alright. Believe it!" The rest of his teammates sweat dropped. Kakashi put his hand to his face giving a sigh. Akira just kept staring wide eyed, finally she turned to the others more surprised that this seemed to be normal.

"Idiot." Sasuke said. This turned into a glaring contest between him and Naruto.

"You all did good." Kakashi announced giving a look to Akira. He had a suspicious smile going on. "Since you all got a piece of the scarf you all…" Akira watched as the others leaned in ready for their reward. "…can get a relaxing mission by weeding Mr. Lings garden." giving a smile.

"What you cheater?" Naruto yelled as the others also voiced their complaints. Akira couldn't help a smile break out on her face and began to giggle. However as the group began to move away, she felt eyes on her. Scanning all around her she sensed and saw no one. Turning to her new Sensei who looked at ease, ignoring his students complaints, once again orange book in hand. If he doesn't sense something maybe I'm just paranoid. At least that's what she hoped.


	4. Chapter 4 Don't Hold Back

**Hope you like. We get to learn more about Akira!**

Even though weeding out someone's garden was far from anything fun or training, Akira enjoyed it. It allowed her to work once more in the sun, something she appreciated to no end. It also gave her time to analyze and learn more about her new teammates. She noticed Sakura many times was left out of the group, with Sasuke and Naruto always fighting and then Kakashi having to deal with the two of them, Sakura was left behind or ignored. She seemed to be determined despite this to gain Sasuke's approval. Akira admired her although she did think she needed to focus a bit more on her ninja training. Turning to Naruto who was glaring at Sasuke she became curious. "Naruto, how did you do that technique?" Naruto turned to her cocky smile suddenly present on his face.

"You mean my Sexy Jutsu."

"No, you do not want to go there." Sakura warned. "Hn." Sasuke added in agreement. Akira giggled. She was doing that a lot now. She shook her head.

"Although I'm curious as to why you have that one, I meant the shadow clone one. How did you make so many clones? I've never seen that many in my life." Naruto rubbed the back of his hand and gave an awkward smile.

"Um well I kinda stole this scroll for the Fobiddden Multiple Shadow Clone Technique." Akira's eyes went wide. "Plus I have a lot of Chakra then most people." He gave another awkward laugh. Akira had noticed that Sakura and Kakashi also seemed to be slightly uncomfortable with the conversation. Sasuke, however just rolled his eyes apparently they knew something she and Sasuke didn't.

"What about Sasuke's technique he can do the Fireball Jutsu and he's only a Genin." Sakura proudly proclaimed. She had tactfully changed the subject and to her favorite as well. Akira frowned she looked to Sasuke who was looking for her answer. She turned to the others.

"Isn't that normal?" She asked. Everyone looked to her weird. Sasukes eyebrows rose slightly. She wasn't impressed by the fireball justu. He'd admit she was a good opponent but if she thought she was better than him he'd put her straight. Kakashi gave a smile to Akira.

"You think all Genins should know an elemental justu." He said calmly. Akira was looking from one to the other. She knew she had made a mistake. Now how to cover it? "Do you know elemental jutsus?" Kakashi asked. He was staring at her so intensely. Akira gave a slight sigh then turned to the small pond that was in the garden. She made hand signs and Kakashi raised his eyebrows and lifted his hitai-ate letting his Sharingan watch her hands and mouth as she softly whispered. "Water Shark Bomb Jutsu." A large body of water with the head of a shark rose out of the pond. Akira moved her hands slightly causing the water missile to go at a more moderate pace towards a flowerbed. Suddenly she moved her hands into fists and the water shark dissipated and rained water all over the flower patch. Team 7 looked at her in astonishment. Sasuke wasn't even trying to hide his frown of confusion. "Impressive." Kakashi said hitai-ate back in place before she turned.

"Wow how did you do that? Where did you learn that?" Naruto shouted. Akira suddenly looked very nervous.

"A water ninja taught it to me. I helped him and in return her taught me it." Akira looked very sad suddenly.

"But how could you learn it that's a Rank B jutsu." Sakura stated. Akira turned to her. She stilled herself then spoke very strained and quiet.

"Where I was before here. It was…" she was thinking of the right word. "…a place to train. They were very harsh you were expected to be good or not at all. Having certain pressures on you, can make you capable of anything." Akira finished this statement looking Sasuke. In the short time she had known her new team she had found out there goals and brief histories. She knew Sakura loved Sasuke and that she wanted to be a ninja. She knew Naruto wanted to be Hokage one day and the village had mistreated him before. And Sasuke she knew had lost everyone because of his brother and that his goal was to one day kill Itachi. She liked his confidence and air of authority he gave off, it made her feel confident herself and safe. Akira gave a small smile then went back to her work, leaving the others to continue in silence going over what she had just said.

Days went by and Akira felt more and more at home in Konoha. She loved her Team. She found out many things about each one. She found Kakashi although appearing to be lazy and completely uninterested in anything that didn't involve Icha Icha Paradise, was very kind and wise and an extremely skilled ninja. He knew exactly what to say no matter what you were feeling. He never pressed her for more details of her past and gave criticism and tips on how to perfect her close combat skills and chakra control something she needed to learn so she didn't burn out quickly. Naruto she found could make her smile and laugh no matter what memories or worries plagued her. Although sometimes he tried to find out more about her past she knew it was only because he was interested in who she was. She found he made her feel at ease and light and helped her get over her fear of believing everyone had a bad motive. She enjoyed Sakura so much. She had admitted one day to her that she had never had female company or least someone that she could talk to or be friends with. She enjoyed hearing Sakura talk about Sasuke. Akira tried to train mostly with Sakura feeling sorry she was normally left out. She privately told Sakura that Sasuke would be able to see her techniques and skills much better if she trained with Akira than if she just fought him. Because of this Sakura began to improve little by little.

Sasuke was interesting. She enjoyed his silence at times and the two were known to train or go out on night walks together. Akira had assured Sakura that although Sasuke was very handsome she didn't feel attracted to him or anybody else. Their late night walks had begun when Akira had put herself to the test one night. She felt restless and decided she would combat her fear of being outside at night alone. While out she met Sasuke training, they said little to each other but Sasuke seemed to understand her dilemma and invited her to spar. Through these walks Akira heard very little about his childhood although his actions and certain words told her how he had once been very happy but now felt nothing to work to except revenge. One night she had been shocked when he blantantly told her off for holding back during training.

"You hold yourself and everyone else back. You can't move on or get stronger by hiding away." The next day the group learned Akira, besides the water shark jutsu, could also perform an earth jutsu that created a defensive wall and a wind jutsu that could manipulate wind to stop enemy projectiles. As the Hokage had said it seemed Akira did not want to share very much of her past mostly because she didn't want to remember. Team 7 learned enough to know that she had lost her parents young and had been pushed by threat of her life to train as a ninja and that certain people she helped from where she had been had in return taught her jutsus. Akira grew to enjoy the whole gang of the Rookie 9 and their senseis. She grew used to their quirks and attitudes till she felt she could trust herself alone with each of them without her teammates. She remained closest to her team who acted as a protection for her when someone pushed to much about her past or like Guy, didn't know of her issues with personal space. As the Chunin Exams began to draw nearer Kakashi had them go on slightly more substantial missions then gardening or catching cats.

The first day they met the other teams that were part of the Chunin Exams, Akira felt sick. She had a bad feeling about so many of them even a certain man named Kabuto who seemed to be quiet and gentle enough. The others seemed to be okay with him but Akira just felt wrong about him. At first the written part of the exam had been a bit intense. Without Naruto's enthusiasm she was sure many if not all would have failed. Akira marveled how he could not be stopped and when with him she went she could do just about anything. As the teams got ready for the field part of the exam to take place in the Forest of Death, Akira felt strangely confident.

"Sir! We've located little Sister." One man said.  
>"Good. Prepare to leave." a gruff voice came from the dark room.<p>

"Sir is our mission to assassinate or retrieve." the first one asked still bowing.

"Whichever is easiest either way she dies." He laughed "To Konoha." He shouted. His cry was echoed in the dark hollow hallways.

**Finally next chapter we get some answers and some action.**


	5. Chapter 5 You're an Anari?

chapter 5

Ok Now we get some action!

Different ones including a young woman named Anko, explained their mission. Each team would have to acquire two different scrolls. Each team had one and had to find another team with a different scroll and get a hold of it by any means. Akira kept getting looks from Anko. She already didn't like their team since Naruto seemed to annoy her, but she also didn't appreciate Team 7 having an extra team member. She wasn't the only one, others kept giving them angry stares.

"Akira come one were taking a team picture." Sakura called. Sasuke and Naruto in yet another argument seemed too angry to like the picture. Sakura had great hopes for their new mission and was all smiles. Akira stood between Sasuke and Kakashi. She had never had a picture taken before and so she felt awkward and gave a soft smile. As Kakashi tried to keep Naruto and Sasuke from killing each other, Akira let her eyes scan the participants. Anko was speaking again and had surprisingly cut Naruto with a kunai. Kakashi noticed Akira tense up and her eyes filled with fear. It wasn't the cut but the person who had jumped behind Anko and Naruto and had let out an extremely long tongue to lick the blood from the kunai. Kakashi frowned but said nothing as Akira pulled herself together and placed an impassive look on her face but kept her eyes on this stranger.

"Alright!" Anko shouted. "Any questions?"

"Yes." came a gruff reply from far off. Everyone turned to see a large group of rough burly men. They had scars all over their faces making them grotesque especially with the evil sneers they gave. Many of the teachers and other shinobi got into a fighting stance. Akira paled. "No no no. This a nightmare. No please go away." she thought.

"What do you want?" Anko demanded. The ugliest of the them all spoke.

"Were just here to pick up little sister. Then we'll be on our way." he said his eyes turned to Akira and the look he gave made Kakashi's blood boil. He had only known Akira for a little while, but he could understand her need to face the future, try to move on and feel vulnerable about your past. He had grown fond of her as everyone had and was determined not just as her sensei or teammate but also as her friend to protect her.

"Who are you?" His voice still calm but threatening. The leader looked to him and gave another cocky evil smile.

He pulled his arm up displaying a forehead protector with a symbol that had been scratched out with two lines. "Anari." Kakashi said.

"Sensei, What are Anari?" Naruto asked. Anko spoke up her voice full of disgust.

"Anari are group of rogue ninjas. They have defected from their villages. They're a low branch of Akatsuki. Even Akatsuki won't use them because they wont follow anyone's orders. They rely on their brute strength. They attack villages kill anyone and take children that have promise. Those that survive their "training" are so dramatized and scarred that they turn into Anari themselves."

"Seems like we've made a mark." the leader laughed. Anko called out to them.

"You never attack shinobi villages, cowards. What are you doing here?"

"We're here for little Sister. Akira come quietly." Akira took a step back. She could feel the stares as everyone realized what she was. No this couldn't be happening. "To think we raised and taught you all by ourselves and you decide to abandon us." Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura looked to their teammate. She had so much pain and anger in her eyes. Anko reeled on her.

"You. You're an Anari?" Akira and others looked to the Hokage. His expression said it all. "I knew of where she had come from." he admitted, he turned to the leader. "And I promised her protection." The Leader of the Anari's scoffed.

"Get over it old man. Akira come with us quietly or there will be trouble." Before Akira could reply she was surprised to see Naruto standing in front of her.

"You think just because you tormented her for years she owes you anything. She may have lived with you but that doesn't mean she is or ever will be anything like you!"

Akira was shocked for as long as she could remember she had never had anyone stick up for her. She was surprised to see Sasuke and Sakura also taking a stand in her defense. Kakashi placed a hand on her shoulder. He had his lazy silly smile but his hitae-ate was up and his eyes were intense.

"It seems Akira does not want to go with you. I suggest you leave while you're ahead." He said his sharingan trained and spinning. The Leader's face grew angry.

"I warned you. You just signed your own death." The Anari all took fighting positions and leapt at the Konoha ninjas. A huge fight began with Anbu and Jounin on one side Anari on the other. The genin were ordered to take a defensive position but they still were busy fighting off attackers. Akira it seemed was very skilled aside from using her jutsus she also was going all out to push the attackers back. Suddenly all the Anari's leapt back as if in defeat.

"Hey you cowards. You guys are lower then low!" Naruto began to run full speed ahead at them. He barely heard Akira's cry.

"Naruto No!" But it was too late Naruto saw too late that each Anari member held something that looked like an umbrella. The fired them in the air and each one split into hundreds of kunai and shuriken. Naruto stopped short but there was no way for him to move out of the way. As it was many would be injured behind him. As the blanket of death grew closer, Akira burst from the front line and ran to Naruto. She slid to a stop in front of him looking at the flying missiles. Her eyes flew back and forth timing, counting. Suddenly she reared her hand back and thrust her two palms forward as blue chakra flew from her hands making a curved barrier between them and the Anari's. The projectiles all were sent back from the impact and then the chakra barrier burst forward sending all the Anari's flying. Akira was able to see one look of surprise from the leader before he was thrown back.. You may think you trained me how to be strong but I learned how to be stronger she thought. As the dust cleared everyone looked in surprise at the damage, kunai and shuriken littered the field while further ahead was merely a large gap where trees and earth had been thrown up and the bodies of the Anari were scattered about those not crushed by debris were knocked out cold. Akira was breathing heavy. It had taken a lot out of her she had always feared to show her strength in case someone wanted to use her or take her out because of it. Unlike Sakura she did not have perfect chakra control but she hid that she was very good at conserving her use of chakra and was able to draw great amounts of it to defend or enhance her fighting. She turned to Naruto expecting to get a look of fear or disappointment in her.

"Wow! How'd you do that?" Naruto gave her a big grin and thumbs up. Akira burst into a smile. She leaned over to him and gave him a huge hug. Naruto was a bit shocked but he noticed she was getting heavier. Akira felt her strength draining as her body tried to catch up to the large amount of chakra she had lost. "Akira are you ok?" She steeled herself. Standing up straight giving him a nod. Anbu appeared to take care of the of the remaining Anari's. Akira and Naruto joined the rest of Team 7 and Kakashi noticed how she seemed to be concentrating very hard to keep herself steady. As Anko barked orders to get the Chunin Exams back on the way, Kakashi casually placed his hand on Akira's shoulder. Her head lifted quickly she felt a warmth enter her body as chakra flowed into her. She looked to Kakashi but he merely gave his signature smile. As she felt her strength slowly returning at least enough so that she could face the Hokage who had walked up to her, Akira stepped up and bowed.

"I apologize Hokage-sama. I accept whatever consequences and take full responisblilty." She gave a slight look to Anko who was no longer angry at her but it would take more to gain her trust. The Hokage looked at her before a small smile appeared.

"To protect the villiage you are required to stay here until Anbu can take care of the Anari's." His smile continued as he turned away and gave Anko the ok to start the Chunin Exams. Akira felt relief despite her body's ache as it recovered. She knew that the Anari would take some time to round up but she felt confident that she could defend herself from them and have the support of her team and home. She felt relaxed at least for now as she looked over to the long tongued ninja. "Please let everyone be safe." she thought.


	6. Chapter 6: The Nightmare Returns

Wow it's been a long time. Oops :( I'm out of my writers block! After lots of drama and stuff and general craziness I'm back on this project. I lost some of my interest in the story when I personally felt the actual Naruto manga was getting a bit dragged out (I still love the story but I was just not feeling certain parts. anyway moving on) But after reading the last two mangas I just got so inspired to continue the story and after reading some very nice reviews I felt renewed and got to work! Anyway Hope you enjoy! I'm all nervous again. I'd love to hear feedback from you guys and will continue to work on this story! Longest chapter I've written so far!

Chapter 6

The teams had all been dispersed into the Forest of Death and so far Team 7 had not been doing well. The four had discussed secret codes to tell true teammates from henged after being attacked by a fake Naruto. Akira began to feel apprehensive, they really had no plan of attack other then find another team and so far that wasn't working well. As they tried to determine what to do Akira felt chakra very close by however before she could warn anyone a large whistling sound came from the forest. The others tensed and took ready positions however none were ready for the powerful wind that came at them. Akira tried to summon her own wind jutsu to counteract it but if she didn't keep her chakra focused on her feet she'd go flying.

"Still she thought I have to try, nothing else will work and the wind is only getting stronger!" she thought.

The moment she brought chakra to her hands she felt the wind pick up and seem to lift her and throw her back. She collided into Naruto and both lost their footing being pushed far from the others. Akira didn't know how far they were sent flying but she pulled herself together and brought up her wind jutsu to provide a cushion when her and Naruto fell after the strange wind stopped as quickly as it started.

"What was that? Where's Sakura and Sasuke?" Naruto yelled jumping to his feet. Naruto suddenly asked seriously "Do you think they're being attacked?"

Akira couldn't answer right away she felt her whole body tense as she scanned around them feeling the sense of danger but being unable to tell if it was merely adrenaline or opposing teams. She gave a grave look to Naruto.

"I'm not sure what that was but its most likely it or they are attacking Sakura and Sasuke…and they didn't want us there." That jutsu was too powerful for a genin and that chakra it couldn't be...She saw Naruto's grim face. "But their part of Team 7 they can handle it right?" she tried to give a confident 'Naruto smile' although she was feeling uneasy.

"You're right!" Naruto burst confidently. "They probably want to try that same old henge trick too bad we have the secret code!" He shouted proud of himself. "When does a ninja strike? A ninja strikes when… uh...when...its...darn it! I told Sasuke it was too long."

Akira couldn't help but smile. She knew that fact alone would most likely save the other two. Knowing Naruto would never remember such a long phrase would be proof enough there could never be two Naruto's, well, except by clone jutsu she giggled.

"Come on Akira let's g..." they both stopped short as a shadow descended on them.

"That's…that's…" Naruto stammered. Akira tried to keep her facial features steady and calm but this was..

"That's one big snake!" Naruto called out. The snake reared its head and charged the two. Akira leapt out of the way but it seemed the snake was more intent on taking out Naruto. It snatched Naruto in mid leap with its tail and quickly swallowed him.

"Naruto!" Akira cried horrified. She leapt at the creature intent on saving her friend but despite it's size it moved quickly and hit hard. She went flying into a tree and felt pieces of bark embed themselves in her back. She looked up and found herself alone in the Forest of Death not a sound or chakra signature around. She scanned to find the snake. She wanted to find Sakura and Sasuke as she became more convinced of who was behind this. But she needed to help Naruto immediately. She quelled the panic rising in her stomach and pushed on keeping hidden as much as possible as she covered the area quickly. Her eyes widened as she spotted a figure in a clearing staring straight at her. Her heart froze and her fingers began to feel numb. She landed in the clearing as far away as possible from the figure.

"Hello My dear, it's been a long time." a dark chuckle.

Akira remained silently carefully analyzing her opponent. The figure didn't like this and moved quickly toward her. Akira dodged him although he made no move to injure her and put herself at a great distance from him.

"My dear you wound me. Such an old friend and yet you won't even come near. I just want to see how you are doing in your new home. By the way I hope you weren't too attached to that blonde brat he was giving my quite the headache."

Akira couldn't stay quiet at the mention of Naruto.

"Where is he? Why are you attacking us?" she demanded fear for her friends bringing a boldness she would never dare show in front of this man before.

"I told you he was becoming a nuisance besides there is something I want."

"Orochimaru, I swear if you don't let him go or leave my team alone…"

"You'll what?" he sneered that soft hissing voice unable to hide his cruelty. "As I recall you learned a majority of your techniques while with the Anari despite this new attitude you've learned from the Leaf ninja. And I brought you to the Anari my dear so really you owe it to me that you're still alive." he noticed her hands tighten into fists and her right hand twitch toward her weapon pouch. He smiled and began to walk towards her slowly. "You're new courage is interesting but lets not compare me with those Anari you just defeated. Although you were able to defeat them as you are now I'll remind you that they never understood your real potential. It's why I let you live all this time but to try and defeat me now is a rather pointless cause."

Akira remained poised ready to defend but made no further move for her kunai. She knew a fight with him would be pointless and deadly. He was a sannin and more skilled then she was. Even if he would continue as he had all these years and let her live she'd only be wasting time her team needed her if they were encountering anything to do with this man.

"Naruto!" a faint shout could be heard over the forest.

"Sakura!" Akira thought. Naruto must have met up with them but then she heard a cry and she nearly turned her back on the man to go to her team's aid. She let her guard down, hands grabbed her and held her to a tree, she struggled but that long tongue came out and she stilled knowing he was dangerously close.

"Don't worry your friends should be at an end soon. I merely am getting what I want." he sneered again. She threw a kick at him aiming low not caring about ethical conduct. Sure enough he back away from her.

"I promise you Orochimaru I will never go with you or help you in any way. You're sick and I will never be one of your experiments! I owe you nothing after you kidnapped me and took me to the Anari. And I promise if you hurt my friends even if I'm weaker then you I will not let you get away."

His response scared her but she kept her expression controlled and calm. Orochimaru threw his head back and laughed dark eyes shining in delight.

"Ku Ku You should not think to highly of yourself my dear. The day you come to me it will be willingly. I will not have to use force or any of my jutsu's. Beside I'm not here for you today in fact I quite lost track of you after you ran away from the Anari. Finding you here was a perk. I'm here for Sasuke." He smiled when she couldn't hide her alarm. "So interesting has so many emotions yet tries to hide them always and I love to bring them out." he thought. "He is my newest experiment even now I've given him the curse mark we'll see if he's as strong as everyone claims."

"Leave him alone why are you after him?" Akira asked torn between getting information that could help and wasting time when Sasuke was in danger.

"Maybe if you come with me you could learn a lot of things my dear. I have lots of valuable information for you." He smiled as she harden and her dark eyes flashed anger towards him. "Perhaps you could learn of your family. Find out about your past before the Anari. About who you were before I took you. Can't remember anything yet about it? Your parents? your home? Quite a pain isn't." He laughed.

Akira tensed. He still tormented her with this information. The only man who might know who she was and he was a creepy psychotic snake.

"Well if you won't come with me I'm afraid I must be going. It was wonderful to find you again Akira." He leapt toward her bringing his head close to her ear before she could move. "And don't worry I'll be very close by." and then he was gone in a poof of smoke.

Akira let out the breath she had been holding and collapsed to the ground trying to put everything into place. Why was Orochimaru here? What did he want with Sasuke? Sasuke! She needed to find them fast. They were all in danger she was only talking with a clone they had the real snake with them. She jumped to her feet and began to travel from branch to branch searching for her team. If he gave Sasuke the curse mark who knows if he was even alive? She had seen what Orochimaru's curse marks could do. He had experimented on members of the Anari. He used them, giving them information and provisions so they could attack villages but Orochimaru would use some of their weaker members to try new jutsus and curses on most never survived. He also took very potential specimens, as he called them, children that showed remarkable resistance or potential to be a powerful ninja. For some reason he had done the opposite with Akira. Taking her from…wherever that was, to the Anari to be trained and watched until he deemed her ready. He had made several visits over her years at the Anari base and he always made a point to check her progress. Always trying to entice her to come with him using threats, rewards, the promise of telling her the truth of her past.

It was sad that he was her first memory. At least what she could remember, everything before her life at the Anari camp was a blank somehow she had lost all memories from before, she didn't know who her parents were or where she was from. She had small blurs of dreams/memories now after fighting to find even a snippet of her past. But they were always just empty noise and shadows nothing to work with. She had the urge to know the truth about herself and it was one of the reasons she had run from the Anari she would find the truth for herself and be free from the Snake and his hold over her.

She took a rest on a large tree branch feeling overwhelmed with the want to run and get help, to find her friends and to keep Orochimaru a secret. If people had responded so strongly of her being trained by Anari, how would they react when they learned Orochimaru was after her and that she was under his eye, even the Hokage didn't know about her involvement with him. Would he turn against her? She closed her eyes and wiped the sweat from her face with her hand.

"No there's time to worry about that right now. I need to get to others and help them." She pushed on just missing the line of sand that had been climbing up the tree toward her. She had to find the others.

"Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura please be safe. I'm coming." she thought. For now finding them and getting out of here was the first priority she would deal with Orochimaru later. If she could do anything.


	7. Chapter 7: Dark Memories

Chapter 7

It had grown dark after her talk with Orochimaru and Akira had to stop to rest and wait till morning. It was a horrible night cramped up on a tree limb hearing the occasional sounds of ninja fighting in the far distance, of ninja losing, of ninja dying. She had yet to find the rest of Team 7 and she almost made to get to the edge of the forest and get Kakashi. But if she did, good reason or not her team would be removed from the exams. If Sasuke and Naruto were at least alive they would be so disappointed that she hadn't had the confidence in them or that they would be removed from the exam after they worked so hard.

She gave a sigh and rested her head against the tree trunk and closed her eyes. Her body remained tense, her ears picking up every up sound around her. Slowly tiredness began to take over and she slipped into sleep and the nightmares began.

She was in a dark room. There were no windows and the walls appeared to be a mixture of clay and stone.

"Do it." Came the cold voice so quiet that she barely heard it over her breathing. She was bent over hands on her knees, head down as she tried to catch her breath.

She shook her head words took too much effort and pain. Her panting grew worse as she tired to control the tremors in her body, awaiting the sting. Coursing pain shot through her system and she collapsed to all fours on the ground, sweat dripping from her forehead as she felt the wave of invading chakra go through her causing severe pain inside her whole body. She didn't think she could take another.

"Do it." Came the voice again this time daring her to defy him again. She shook her head. Out of the corner of her eye, the snake man nodded at the Anari leader behind her. A rough fat hand twisted in her hair and dragged her head up, bringing stinging pain to her head her arms instinctively rising to remove the mans hand.

She could now see the figure ahead of her. A low level Anari that she had been forced to fight or be killed. The Anari had fought very hard against her but she had managed to evade him and come out victorious which meant she kept her life however it also meant she would be forced again to take his. The Anari lay on the ground defeated but still breathing. The grip in her hair pulled again and she bit her lip to keep from crying out.

A blade appeared in front of her face and then those horrid yellow snake eyes came into view. His eyes studied her, whether to see if she was strong enough to take another hit or he merely wanted to see if she would defy him to his face she wasn't sure.

"Kill him." came the smooth reply. And she heard the anari on the ground shift on hearing the man's words. Bracing herself and planting her feet on the ground she slammed her head backwards ignoring some of the pain as she made contact with Anari Leader behind her. He shrieked in pain and loosened his grip enough for Akira to step forward toward Orochimaru and stare defiantly at him.

"No!" She replied firmly although the she was starting to loose her strength again.

Orochimaru stared at her for a minute and closed his eyes before his sholders began to shake and he began to chuckle darkly. Before Akira could blink he had a hand around her throat lifting her off the ground as she struggled to breathe. His face was now a horrible sneer and he watched her struggle before throwing her roughly to the corner of the room leaving her gasping and trying to turn herself to face.

"Don't turn your back on the enemy." she thought. However the sight before her made her want to crawl into the corner and hide. Orochimaru after throwing her turned his attention to the Anari on the ground his head shot out and he bit the man before retracting his long snake-like neck. The Anari cried out in pain and began to grab at his neck as a dark curse mark formed. He cried out and thrashed and Akira could take seeing another victim of the curse mark die and turned her face to the wall trying to blot out the sounds. The Anari leader crimaced a bit and once again was glad he had avoided being a victim of this frightening man. Soon the bitten Anari stopped moving and became quiet. The Anari leader moved finally toward him and checked his pulse.

"He's dead." he reported to Orochimaru who seemed indifferent to it.

"Hmm too bad." he said. He turned and noticed Akira staring at the dead man her eyes betraying fear. "Good." he thought "She should fear me." He made to leave, "I'll back again to see how she improves. Increase her training." he threw over his shoulder.

Akira could help staring at the dead man it was too awful. Strong hand gripped her arm and dragged her up and her body screamed in the process.

"Take her back." The Anari leader ordered. The two Anari guard began to drag her away before the leader stopped them. "Wait," he walked toward them and punched her hard in the face. With her arms held she was unable to defend herself and she took the full hit. Her vision blurred on impact and her head made her feel dizzy and she barely heard the Anari Leader. "Don't try that trick again." he spit at her before ordering the men to take her away.

She wasn't sure how but as she regained her senses she realized she was back in her room laying on her cot. She felt someone else in the room and saw someone pouring water into a bowl across the room. It was a young man of about 19 years old, named Masaaki, he had been kidnapped there before her and he had been kind to her. She had once stolen bread for a younger captive that had become so weak from the conditions they lived in she was not sure he would survive. When she was accused of it, Masaski took the blame and her punishment. He still had the scars over his back and arms that had healed badly. Since then her had taken care of her knowing she refused to conform to anything to do with the Anari and so she was the victim of many punishments. He moved back toward the bed bowl in hand. Masaaki crouched beside her bed and began to use a damp cloth on her face removing the dirt and blood. He was careful around the growing bruise on her cheek.

"So what did you do this time for him to give you a hit like this?"

"Hit him with the back of head in the nose." she muttered. Watching as Masaaki tried to give a disapproving look but his eyes showed amusement.

"Was it worth it?" he asked. She shrugged. It was silent for a bit as he continued to adminster first aid to her.

"They killed another one." she replied quietly. Masaaki stopped his actions for a moment.

"Did you refuse to kill him?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Good. I don't like it when you defy them so they punish you but they are up to something with you and its not just to train you into an Anari. Anyone they would have killed a long time ago. But don't let them change you." he was quiet for a moment as he applied healing chakra to fix some of the more serious injuries. He could be a great medic but because he was not able to train his healing jutsu's he was still a low class medic nin. He worked with the Anari mostly so he could have some freedoms including keeping his life to protect Akira. He knew there was something special about her and that creepy snake man wanted her for something yet why had he dumped her here of all places.

"I promise you," he said as she began to sit up feeling a bit better from his treatment. She looked at him as he placed a hand on hers. "I promise Akira I will get us out of here and we will find you family. Keep thinking of that." She gave a small smile.

"You can't promise that and you know it." she said. He gave her a smirk

"Course I can. I'm older which means I'm right." He walked away to discard his medic supplies.

"Only by 6 years." she argued.

"Which makes you a child compared to me." he watched her face grow mad and shocked at his accusation. She began to argue with him. Masaaki hid his smile, the best way to get Akira distracted was to argue about her being a child. He wasn't sure why but she hated to be told she was not good enough because of her age or that she was a child. He turned smirk disappearing as a dirty pillow hit his face.

Akira woke quickly with a bit of water forming in her eyes. She collected her bearings and noticed the sun coming up through small cracks in the forest roof. She picked her self up and began to search for her team. The image of the dying Anari came into her head again and she shook the thought from her mind.

"Sasuke," she thought as she increased her speed no longer caring if she was seen.

The dream had sparked so much in her. She couldn't loose them Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke. They were her team, her friends, her family, she had to look out for them. It was what families do. She thought of Masaaki as she moved, his promise to her. His kindness. It was safe to say she had had a small crush on him. Though it had not grown it had not had a chance to. He had kept his promise to her and because of that she would keep her promise to him.

She noticed the top of a building begin to appear ahead of her and she raced toward it. She was intending to leap on the roof of the building when she caught a sight of pink through the green.

"Sakura!" she shouted jumping down and landing down none too gently. She felt a wave of relief wash over her as she saw all three of her teammates. A little beaten but alive, although they did look pretty beat up and Sasuke was leaning on Sakura for support something he would never do, and Sakura, her hair was chopped above her shoulder and had severe bruising/swelling on her face. She raced towards them as they turned toward her. She stopped short however upon seeing another figure with them, the ninja they had met earlier Kabuto. She watched him suspiciously but before she could analyze him she was hit full force by an Naruto Uzumaki Hug.

"Akira you're ok?" he shouted. She had to laugh a bit. It felt so good to know they were alive.

"I'm fine Naruto. What about you what happened to all of you are you alright?" she asked as she pulled herself out of Naruto's hug. The question was to all of them but she watched Sasuke as she asked. She couldn't see any marks but he had to keep relying on Sakura to help hold him up.

"It's a bit of a long story." Sakura replied.

"Freaky too. There was this creepy snake guy and he bit Sasuke!" Naruto began animating all his facts. He received a glare by the other two on mentioning the curse mark in front of Kabuto but he appeared to not understand or to be more interested in taking notes about the building in front of them. "Then we met Kabuto and he helped us," Naruto continued speaking so fast and loud she could just barely understand him. "And Akira we got the two scrolls!" he beamed at her showing them to her.

"What happened to you?" Sasuke asked. She gave a nervous smile.

"I kept looking for Naruto after the snake got him but I was unable to find you guys all night. Probably got a bit lost." Sasuke gave a bit of a frown. With her skills? Why did she lie?

"Alright Team 7 is back together!" Naruto shouted fist pumping in the air.

"Good to have you back." Sasuke said giving his famous smirk.

"Come on guys lets get inside, I don't know about you but I've had a bit too much excitement." Sakura said helping Sasuke make it up the stairs to the tower. Naruto taking after them making comments on why Sasuke needed to be holding onto Sakura-chan. Akira gave a small sigh, feeling good that they were safe and still Team 7 even after such a hard run in with Orochimaru. Kabuto cleared his throat beside her and she turned to him.

"Thank you for helping us." she replied giving a small formal bow. Kabuto waved off the compliment. And gave her a big smile.

"It was nothing. I'm glad you guys are back together. I must now go now and find my own team. I will see you again." and then he leapt away. Akira couldn't help but feel better with him gone. She had such a bad feeling from him no matter how kind he appeared.

"Akira come on!" Naruto called from the top of the Tower steps. Akira looked up to see Naruto jumping up and down waving to her. Sasuke and Sakura were also looking down at her looking a little worse for wear but smiling (well for Sasuke it was a smirk) and looking confident. Akira turned back to the Forest of Death. "Masaaki I will keep my promise." she thought. Then turned and ran up the steps to her team.

...

Wow another chapter done and soon we will get past all the character introduction and get into some dramatic action YEa! :)


End file.
